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7.3L Starting issue

4K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  kinglberry 
#1 ·
Hello All, I left the title vague as I am really unsure as to what the problem could be. I have read a lot on this forum and have checked a lot of things, but as it is my first diesel I have a learning curve to achieve. First off, she is a 2001 F250 SDSC 7.3L. I bought it used with 150k miles, it has had some mods that I can tell, and some I have performed. It has an AFE Stage II intake, a 5 inch straight exhaust with no cat or muff from MBRP. A 6 position power switch, unsure of who manufactured it or what the exact setting are, 1 is stock I believe, 1 is a high idle I know, and the other 4 are various power increases unsure as to the exact. A boost annihilator from Sinister(I screwed around with the one that was on the truck before I knew what it was and screwed it up), and a 3 gauge pod that I installed. I have changed the oil, fuel filter, and air filter since I purchased it(the previous AFE was beyond cleaning).

For the first few months it worked fine, started perfectly and ran like a dream. Then over the summer it started having a problem starting the first time of the day(temperature irrelevant), it would crank, run for a couple of seconds and then falter and sometimes it would then settle herself and idle properly and sometimes it would die. Recrank and it would be fine. That progressed to almost always dieing after the initial crank. Then one time it wouldn't recrank, I thought maybe I had glow plug problems, checked resistance values and I have one bad on the driver side. Should not be enough to cause all this, checked the GPR and it appeared to not be functioning properly so I replaced it. Still would not start, so I tried the ether route, and got it to crank, and run fine. Ran all day no problems, the next day, go to crank her and she's back to doing the same thing as before, cranking, then dieing after a couple of seconds, unless I run the RPMs up to about 2k right at crank for a second or so, then she will idle down and run fine.

So, I thought maybe a vacuum leak in the fueling system, however, if that was the case I think my bowl would be empty after the initial crank and die, it is not, so does that mean I don't have a vacuum problem. Have also seen HPOP and IPR symptoms discussed on here that I guess could be at fault. Like I said, very new to diesels and trying to learn on the fly. Any help or education would be appreciated.
 
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#5 ·
CPS

Thank you for the recommendation, looked up that particular error and the information I found said to check the Tach and if it doesn't move then your CPS is the problem, however my tach moves. I am going to attempt the IPR rebuild kit from PDP and see how that goes.

Additional information, when this problem first showed itself, it would only occur if the truck had sit for a full day/overnight. However, more recently, it occurs after only a couple hours of parking.
 
#7 ·
From what I have read about the IDM it seems to cause failures also while driving, and I haven't had that at all. Once I rev the engine up for a second or so, it runs fine and can be recranked again, as long as it doesn't sit for too long. Time limit now seems to be around 3 hours or so before it hard starts.
 
#9 ·
two suggestions, don't ever use ether on ur truck. it will fry ur piston rings. second, there is an allen screw on the top of ur hpop, after it has sat for a little while, pull the screw out and check the oil level. it should be near the top. if it isn't then the hpop system may be leaking down when setting for periods of time. that could be why u only have problems with start up.
 
#10 ·
I am also having a similar problem in my 1999 f350. Initial start of the day is a nightmare. I have to cycle continuosly to get it to start, with out it being plugged in. If i plug the truck in for an hour, it starts right up. Once the truck has started once it will be fine for the rest of the day, starts on first turn of the key without being plugged in for rest of day, even after sitting for 6-8 hrs at work.

Checked glow plugs, read 1.41 ohms, replaced gpr (with pepboys model, however will replace with the stancor 902 when it comes in) and checked all my fuses, and just put in brand new batteries. However, i never checked gpr with multimeter to check if working properly, will do so tonight. Will also check hpop oil level (once truck has chance to sit for a while). I run 15w 40 Rottela T motor oil, have seen people say to switch to 5w, but just cant see the 15w being the issue.

Also note that truck has superchip, tried taking it out, have same problem. Also have guages as well as 4" turbo back exhaust.

Have not tested injectors, truck seems to run fine, however read somewhere i think that if lower o-rings go it can cause hard start condition, and will not lose or consume excess oil or diesel fuel. Anyone know if there is any validity to this?

THANKS GUYS
 
#13 ·
Have just checked the HPOP resevoir, and the fluid was lower than full, probably about an inch down or so, I closed it started truck and let run for a few minutes, rechecked resevoir, and fluid is all the way at top, is that little bit enough to cause a problem or is that an acceptable amount of oil to leak back down into the engine.
 
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